Backyard keepers brood over 'vital' bird register
People who keep pet chickens are being urged to register them ahead of a legal deadline designed to prevent fresh outbreaks of bird flu.
Owners who fail to do so by Tuesday risk being fined or even imprisoned, though officials have stressed any punishment would be "proportionate".
Farmers say registration is "vital" to protect the poultry population, but some backyard keepers have branded it "bureaucracy gone crazy".
Jorge Martin-Almagro, the government’s deputy chief veterinary officer, warned against complacency about avian influenza, despite a lack of recent reported cases in captive birds.
It follows the largest outbreak on record in the UK, with more than 360 cases confirmed and millions of birds culled between October 2021 and February this year.
"We have got wildlife flying over," he said. "There are geese flying over in a morning now. Who knows what is dropping from the sky?"
